Rose of Ragnelle
by marymin
Summary: A great beast lives in the forest, and a young boy becomes her prisoner . A Beauty and the Beast AU . Seto/Mary
1. Chapter 1

_Once upon a time_, in a kingdom that neither had a name nor needed one, there was a small house that served as an orphanage. It was so small, in fact, that it housed only four children, one of which was the daughter of the couple than ran the orphanage. The others were unwanted children taken in out of pity.

Ayano, the eldest, was kind and gentle, always helping her parents to care for the younger ones. Kido was fierce and independent, never wanting help from anyone. Kano lied his way through life, but he cared deeply for his siblings, even if he rarely showed it. Seto was the weakest of the three, and he often cried, but he always did his best to help when he could.

Though the little family was happy, they had money troubles at times. The father was a tutor in the city, and he would travel back and forth, spending months away from home. His job brought in just enough to keep them fed and clothed. But one day he came home with terrible news.

"I was on my way home," he said, his head bowed with exhaustion. The children crowded at his feet. "I was lost in the forest, it was raining horribly.. and I found a castle."

A castle? They'd never heard of anyone living in the forest before, though of course there were stories of the monsters that lurked between the trees.

"I thought it was a blessing, and I went inside…but inside, I was confronted by a terrible beast. It was going to keep me captive…but then I told it that I had to say goodbye to my children."

Ayano gasped, a hand over her mouth. "It let you leave? Just like that?"

Her father was already shaking his head, exhaustion creasing the corners of his eyes. "I promised to return. If I don't, it will destroy this town. Unless I can find someone to take my place—"

"I'll go!" Ayano said, determined, clenching her fists. It was her job as a big sister, after all. She knew that without her father's income the family would starve.

Her parents begged her not to go, but her mind was made up. It was a practical response, but the children wept too, holding onto her skirt and not wanting to let go. Finally, her father gave in. He drew her a map to the castle, and told her that he'd been given three days.

The family spent the next two days trying to say goodbye, but of course it wasn't enough time. As the hours wore on, Ayano's expression became even sadder, and the children couldn't stop crying. Ayano was the world to them, and they didn't know how they would survive without her.

That night, as they drifted off to sleep and the candles burned low, Seto found himself unable to sleep. He rolled over, and he could see the tear marks on his sibling's cheeks. What would they do without Ayano? He just didn't know.

Hardly knowing what he was doing, the tiny boy got out of bed. He kissed his siblings on the forehead as a goodbye, and neither of them awoke. Then he crept to Ayano's bed. He took the map, and his hands hesitated over her hair clips that lay next to her bed. He knew he couldn't make the journey without her courage to guide him. The night was cold, however, and he took her favorite red scarf instead. He laced his boots and, with many long looks over his shoulder, disappeared into the forest.

The moon was out, so he was able to read the map in between the patches of light where branches didn't leave shadows. It seemed awfully straightforward, and Seto wondered why no one had found the castle before. He looked up at the iron gates in awe, then snuggled down into the wool scarf. He couldn't find the latch, so he knocked, the metal hurting his small fist.

The gates creaked open.

His heart pounding, the little boy walked into the courtyard, statues around him making terrifying shadows on the walls. Why would anyone have so many statues of frightened people? He supposed it must be standard monster lawn decor, but still it scared him.

The gates clanged shut, and he screamed. He whirled around, but there was nothing behind him. A soft hissing filled the courtyard.

"Don't turn around," a voice said, and he nearly screamed again. it was a woman's voice, or maybe several, and it was accompanied by whispers that sounded like snakes. "If you do, you'll become just like all those 'statues' in this place."

He swallowed. No wonder they'd seemed so realistic. Gathering his courage, he spoke. "I came in place of my father," he squeaked out, and the hissing intensified.

"You? You're not more than a child. He sent you in his place?" The voice spat out the words, like it was cursing the man it let go.

Seto fought not to look in the direction of the voice. "I ran away! My family needs him, or they'll starve." The whispers quieted, and for a moment he wondered if the monster was gone.

"When I have left, take the first door on the right, then go down the stairs. Pick one of the rooms on that hallway, because it will be yours for the rest of your life." Seto was too terrified to reply, but the beast didn't seem to be expecting it. The slithering noises faded, and after counting to fifty, Seto judged it safe. He turned around, and the doorway was empty, though the door was open just a crack.

The boy followed the directions, trotting down the stone steps. He was eager to get to his room and warm up, for the journey had been long and cold. The hallway had many doors and he chose one at random, walking inside.

It was a bare stone room with only a wooden bench in the corner and some straw on the floor. He blinked in confusion, and said aloud, "But this is a dungeon." The door behind him slammed, and when he tried it, it was locked.

Resigning himself to his fate, the child sat down in the corner, pulling the scarf around him, and tried to warm himself enough to fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

When the sun rose and the little cell warmed, the boy tried the door, hoping against hope it would be unlocked. Somehow, though he hadn't heard a thing in the night, it was. The boy was too tired to try to figure out how it had happened. He was hungry, so he began to search the stone halls for a kitchen. Surely the beast wouldn't keep him here with nothing to eat at all? He wouldn't last very long that way.

Sure enough, after a few minutes Seto came across a room with a long table that was fully set. He was unsure if it was meant for him, but he was hungry, so he sat down and began to eat.

Halfway through the meal he heard the telltale hissing noises fill the room, and he dropped his fork. That night he had turned the problem over in his mind and knotted the scarf behind his neck, making a sort of makeshift blindfold. So the second he heard the monster approaching he pulled it up over his eyes, determined not to turn to stone.

"You've learned," the voices said, and he thought he heard a sort of approval. The boy heard dishes and cups clinking, as though they were being gathered up. He supposed that monsters had to eat as well.

"I had a job for your father," the voices were hissing, "but you will have to do what you can. The rocks in the courtyard need clearing. Do not touch the statues."

Seto nodded, understanding. Some of the boulders had been almost as big as him, but he would figure something out. The hissing began to fade.

"Wait!" he said, gripping he edge of the table. The whispers stopped altogether, but he mustered his courage and continued. "I'm Seto. Do you have a name?"

"It won't matter," she said, and before he could figure out what that meant, she was gone. The boy waited a few seconds to be sure, before removing the blindfold. There was no sign the monster had been there at all, except for the end of the table where several plates of food were missing. He made sure to eat as much as possible, so that food didn't go to waste and he'd have the strength to do the work he needed to do.

When Seto went out into the courtyard, he saw that there was far more to do then he'd been able to tell in the dark. Rocks the size of fists littered the ground, and as he'd thought there were several much larger boulders. He ignored those and began to move the smaller rocks.

It was small going. He didn't have a wheelbarrow or even a basket, and the weather was cold, so he had to stop every few minutes to blow on his bare hands, which stung from the chill. There was a bare patch by the wall behind the house where he left the rocks, both because it was out of sight and because he had a vague idea that if he piled the rocks high enough, he could get over the wall and get away. Of course, the monster had threatened to destroy the village before, but he had to give himself some form of hope.

Seto had barely made a dent in the courtyard when it began to get dark, and he went back inside. The food on the table had been replenished, and the monster was nowhere to be seen or heard, so he ate and then went back to his cell to sleep.

The events repeated themselves for many days, until one day he went outside and the courtyard was covered in snow. The boy knew he'd get frostbite or worse if he tried to dig through the drifts to reach the rocks, and so he went back inside, hoping the monster would understand.

There wasn't much he could do, so he chose to explore the castle, shutting his eyes as he entered each room and calling 'is anyone in here?" then he'd wait for awhile, until he was sure it was safe. One door he couldn't open, and he rattled the doorknob, but it was locked, so he moved on.

As the boy wandered the hallways, he heard the monster behind him, and pulled the scarf over his eyes again.

"Good morning," he said, though his voice shook badly. He was still very afraid of her.

"What are you doing indoors?" the beast asked, her voices ranging between confused and demanding.

He hugged his arms around himself. "It's snowing outside…I'll get sick if I try to clear the courtyard now."

There was silence, and he didn't know what he expected. Then something grabbed the front of his shirt, and he jumped. Then he was being led into a nearby room.

"This is the library," the voices said, and he was pushed backwards. Something hit the back of his knees, and he sat down on a chair he hadn't known was there. There was movement across the room, and then something heavy and square was being laid across his knees. He felt it with his hands, and it was a book.

The voices came again, a little muffled. "You don't have to work outside today. You can read to me instead."

"I gotta take off the scarf to read," he said, his voice unsteady, and he turned the book over in his hands.

"It's safe," the voices promised, and he lowered the red fabric, looking around. He hadn't seen the library yet, and it was a large room with bookshelves reaching towards the ceiling. One whole half of the room was sectioned off with a folding screen, and he could tell by the hissing that she was on the other side of that.

The monster was waiting for him, so Seto opened the book, noting that it was a volume of fairy tales. He cleared his throat and began to read.

The rest of the winter was spent like that. The boy and the monster worked their way through the big fairy tale anthology, and then began on another.

Seto became used to navigating the castle with the scarf tied around his eyes, one hand on the wall. He only rarely took it down when he knew it was safe. He missed his family, but he became more comfortable in this routine, and found himself crying less and less every night. As he became used to not needing sight all the time, sometimes the monster would join him for meals as well. Sometimes, he would ask her questions.

"How long have you lived here?"

"Longer than you could ever know." Her answers were never satisfactory, so more often that not he talked to her instead. He told her about his family, about silly things Kano had said or brave things Kido had done. He told her about Ayano's little nonsense songs that she'd taught them, and, feeling self conscious, he sang them for her. She seemed at least to listen.

Spring came, and though he resumed work in the courtyard, at her request he spent the mornings moving rocks and the afternoons reading to her. Sometimes he wondered why she couldn't read to herself, but he didn't mind. It was a relief to sit down after a morning of hard work. Sometimes he even forgot he was a prisoner. However, any feelings of friendship or sympathy he had towards her disappeared when, around a year from the time he'd been captured, he discovered he wasn't the only person held captive in that castle.


	3. Chapter 3

Winter had come and gone again a second time since Seto had lived in the castle under the monster's rule. He'd grown accustomed to the life there, and though he never left the arms of the tall stone walls, he grew strong through the work of clearing the boulders. The end of the task began to be within his sights, and he wondered what would happen when he finished. Would he be allowed to go free? Or would she dispose of him through death or petrification? Perhaps all he was doing was clearing space for the statue he would one day be.

Those thoughts pressed in at the back of his mind, but Seto refused to let himself dwell on them too harshly. He was trying to shake the worries from his head one day as he made the trip from the dungeon room to the courtyard, blindfolded as always, when he crashed into someone going the opposite way.

There was only him and the monster in that place, so he was terrified, but the squeak of surprise was that of a young girl's, and sounded nothing like the beast.

"Hello?" Seto called, holding his hands out like a blind man. As he took a step forward, something small shifted under his foot and he slipped, crashing to the floor. Wincing in pain, he removed the blindfold.

What he'd fallen on had been a small metal key, plain and undecorated except for the long ribbon tied through the loop at the end. When he picked it up, it was warm, like it had been clasped firmly in a hand before his.

"Is this yours?" he asked, looking up at the stranger.

She was his age or maybe a year older, and she looked terrified. She wore an unremarkable blue dress that was threadbare at the elbows, and she was barefoot. But perhaps the most shocking thing about the stranger was her hair, which was white as snow and fell far beyond her waist, though it was difficult to judge now with her sprawled on the floor like she was.

She was covering her eyes. Seto realized with a surprise that she must think him the monster as well. He moved forward to kneel next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm a prisoner here," he told her, hoping it would reassure her. "I've got your key."

Slowly, the girl lowered her hands.

"Are you also trapped?" he asked, lowering his voice as he realized the monster might hear them somehow. "If you're not, you should get out of here as soon as possible. Whatever you're looking for isn't worth getting turned to stone."

Somehow, that seemed to help her find her voice. "I'm also…trapped here," she said quietly, her eyes darting around the hallway. "I've been unable to leave as long as I can remember." Seto supposed that if he'd grown up with the monster, he too would be afraid to look someone in the eye. It wasn't entirely strange that they'd never crossed paths before; Seto had been there a little over a year, but the castle was massive and he never went anywhere other than the dining hall, the dungeon, the courtyard, and the library. It would be possible for him to live here many years and never seen the entirety of what the fortress had to offer.

Seto offered her his hand. If they were prisoners together, that made them comrades, in a way. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. "My name's Seto," he told her cheerfully, holding out the key.

She took it carefully, curling her fingers in the ribbon and lowering it into a hidden pocket of her apron without touching the metal. "Please call me Mary," she said in a soft voice when she was done.

"What you do here?" he asked, curious. He had to get to the courtyard, but it could wait a little while.

"Um…" Mary looked down, clasping her hands in front of her chest. "I make sure there's food in the hall. I clean, sometimes."

Every inch of the castle that Seto had seen so far had looked dusty and cobwebbed. He chuckled. "That's a big job for a kid! All I'm responsible for is the courtyard, that's way easier. Maybe I should help you clean sometimes?"

Mary looked at him for the first time, staring in surprise. She looked like a kid who'd found candy they knew they shoudn't be eating; delighted and shocked, but also guilty. "Maybe…"

"Do you think the monster would let me? I'm almost done with my job at this point…" Seto's motives were not entirely selfless; he wanted to help her, sure, but he also wanted to make sure the beast didn't destroy him when he'd finished the task.

That seemed to startle Mary even further, and she looked down at the floor. "I can ask," she said quietly, and Seto marveled. His conversations with the monster were brief, when he wasn't reading to her or telling her stories. He would never think to ask for a favor. This girl was either incredibly brave or she knew the monster much better than he did, having been here for so long.

Mary pointed up the staircase. "I was going up there. To the second floor."

Seto moved out of her way. "Hey, you can probably see the courtyard from up there! I'll wave up at the windows just in case." He wouldn't be able to see her, of course, because they were stained glass, but she might be able to peer through the clear panels and catch a glimpse of him. Mary nodded, and without another word scurried up the stairs and out of sight.

He retied the scarf around his head, placed one hand on the rough stone wall, and continued on the familiar path to the courtyard. When he reached it, there were even fewer boulders then he remembered, and most of them were so large he would probably have to roll them. Before he got started, however, he shielded his eyes from the sun and waved up at the windows above him. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he thought he saw a flicker of movement in the stained glass window above him.

With a warmth in his heart that helped stave off the early spring chill, he set to work, leaning his shoulder against the first and largest of the stones. It was comforting to know he wasn't alone.

…

A few days later the boy was waiting for the monster in the library and straightening the scarf, trying to keep it straight on his eyes, when he felt something strange. The yarn seemed to be unraveling under his fingers, and he fought with it desperately, finally yanking it off his head to try to knot the fibers and stop it from coming apart.

Finally he managed to tie it in a way that he hoped it would stop unraveling, but the damage was already done. The scarf was maybe half the length it had originally been, and tears welled up in his eyes.

It was the last thing he really had from home, a reminder that his siblings were always with him, and here it was coming apart in front of him. Though he tried to be strong, his shoulders began to shake and the tears rolled down his face, landing on the red yarn in his lap. He clamped his hands over his eyes, as if trying to push the tears back in.

Familiar whispers filled the room, but he couldn't stop crying. The voices spoke to him.

"Why are you crying?"

The young girl's voice was concerned, but those of the grown woman and the crone were scornful and dismissive, and he shrank back in his chair, trying to swallow his sobs.

"My scarf's coming apart," he managed, and the whispers slowed. He kept his hands over his eyes as he heard her come closer, then felt the weight of the scarf vanish from his lap.

There was a long pause, and he managed to get his tears under control, already hating himself for the moment of weakness that he was far too old for. He felt the scarf being laid across his knees again, but something else joined it. His head jerked up in surprise, though he didn't lower his hands to find out what the second strip of cloth was.

"Take this. It will stop you from turning to stone at least."

Seto gulped down the last tears before they could fall, trying to keep a tremor from his voice. "Thank you. But, it's more than that. I miss my family. The scarf was a reminder of my sister."

He expected to be told to shut up, to be told he was being foolish. But the monster seemed to be thinking about it. "I'll send you a mirror," she said, "it will be in your room by tonight. Just by requesting a sight from it, you will be able to see whoever you like. That way you can keep your family in your heart."

Seto hadn't expected such kindness. Had Mary been right when she spoke of talking to the monster like it was such a simple thing? "Thank you," he said, stunned.

"I won't need you for the rest of today, so you can spend it however you like. I saw you finished in the courtyard. I'll give you new instructions tomorrow."

And before he could respond, the whispers were gone, and he waited several seconds before lowering his hands. The monster was surprisingly kind, he thought.

But the strip of fabric in his lap was pink and lace-edged at one side, and as he lifted it to examine it closer, he saw it seemed to be cut from a little girl's dress. A white hair clung to it, and a chill ran down his spine as he remembered the other prisoner in this place.

As long as he and Mary were captive here, he couldn't let himself relax around the monster, not even for a second. Steeling himself, he tied the pink fabric around his eyes and rose to leave the library. He would somehow find a way for them to get out of there, he was sure of it.


End file.
